Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) — The Supreme Court has dismissed from service a clerk of the Metropolitan Trial Court (OCC-MeTC) in Makati City for theft of ₱277,000 worth of court collections, which she replaced with fake bills.
In a decision dated June 27, the SC found Charlibeth Sicad, an employee at the Office of the Clerk of Court, guilty of gross misconduct.
An investigation was conducted last year after a court staffer found that the money drawer contained fake bills. This was after she asked Sicad to relieve her at the cashier post for a few minutes.
The SC said that Sicad \”appeared uneasy\” during the investigation and was caught going to the storage room even though the employees were ordered to stay at their work areas.
\”The police officers saw Sicad coming out from the edge of a filing cabinet, prompting them to search the area where she had come out,\” the SC said in a statement on Wednesday. \”There, the police officers discovered the stolen money inside a black pouch. There were also fake bills found in the garbage bin in front of the table of Sicad.\”
A criminal charge for qualified theft has been filed against Sicad.
